Guitar strings question

Dude I am laughing because I am guilty of leaving strings on a guitar so long they have stuff growing on them!  Honestly, I sometimes like the sound of dead strings... I actually EQ for it!

LMAO

In all sincerity though, I don't know what the experts say, but minimizing the number of tightening/loosenings on a glued neck seems like the right thing to do in my non-professional opinion.  I leave my strings at tension at all times, and have never noticed any adverse effects...including a 1972 Les Paul.

Same here..I've had guitars hanging on the wall for years with the same strings on.

Same suffering here. My guitar recording sessions take place so seldom, that if I wanted to have the fresh, airy sound I'd need half a dozen sets of strings per song. It does bother me, as the sound, especially of my acoustic guitar, is SO much nicer with strings four-five days old maximum.

You can seldom get what you want...

Unless I'm experimenting with a new type of string or are taking them off to do some work, I tend to change my bass strings every 5-20 years, whether they need it or not.  

You're supposed to change the strings? 



yeah.... new string are better sounding. they are brighter, and they have that ring in them that old ones lose.  I don't think it matters if you play them or not.... if they are under tension, they are stretching out and that seems to take away that brightness....

guitars in the stores that set on the wall hangers for months..... I have never picked one off the wall and was impressed with it having new strings. 99% of the ones I have played in that manner were all pretty dead sounding.

How often to change strings.  that depends on a number of factors. I used to gig for a living and the band I played in was pretty tight and since we were a 3 piece band.... a broken string was not an option in the middle of a tune. My SG would go horribly out of tune instantly on a break of any string. So.....since we were gigging many nights each week and making some decent money, I took it upon myself to buy strings by the case and would change them at least every 2 weeks if we were gigging lightly that week or weekly if we were playing every night. I also cleaned the strings after the shows. 

Still....when I installed new strings, there was always a marked improvement in sound quality, tone and intonation. 

Now.... here in the studio, I leave them on for months.... sometimes years. But oh what a treat to put new strings on the Taylor Acoustic.... oh my..... it's a thing of beauty. 

+1 on Guitar Center; all of the strings are horribly dead 95% of the time.

I change routinely on guitar about every 2-3 months max.  My bass I will let go longer, sometimes a full year.  New strings just have that lively fresh sound and seem to record much better for me.  If I am going to change them for a recording, I try to do so 4-5 days in advance to allow for the strings and neck to settle in again.

Incidentally, I am really digging the new Ernie Balls for electric, Titanium's, I believe they are calling them.  Just a tad more lively and snappy. Seem to last longer as well.

Not to hijack the thread but I was looking forward to trying those cobalt strings! 

I'm trying a different gauge of slinkies (9-46 in place of my standard 9-42) for the next change just to verify if I'm comfortable w/ it and then I'll try the cobalt.

The other thing I mentioned in that other thread is that for me how often I change strings also depends on the guitar. My Les Pauls being naturally much louder, the strings on them don't sound as muffled as they do on my strat. 

2 sessions w/ the strat and it sounds lifeless. Not that they get harder to play or anything, they're still pretty smooth, but w/o that fresh strings sound, the strat sounds lifeless.

Speaking of moisture you might want to invest in a dehumidifier for you guitar room. If the strings are corroding quickly just hanging the wall that could be part of the problem.

The hybrids yes. I figured it'd be cheaper to try the regular hybrid set and if it works for me switch onto hybrid cobalt. Otherwise, it'll still be cobalt but 9.42. If they don't have it at GC here, I can always order on Amazon or something.  It's kind of a torture to go to Guitar Center just for strings. ;)

@Rain... Why not just get them delivered...

http://www.amazon.com/s/r...=cobalt+guitar+strings

I bought my bulk D'Addarrios from Amazon. It is very unlikely I'll set foot in a music store for piddly stuff like that ever again. I despise music stores. ;-)

I haven't tried the Cobalts yet, but I think I have a pack in my storage.  I did try Elixirs when they first came out..quite a while back.  They felt great and sounded good, but seemed to go dead very quickly.  And when THEY went dead, they were DEAD.

My mainstay for years and years has been D'Addario XLs  9-42....but I do occasionally use the heavier bottomed 9- 46s.

The electrics are pretty easy to keep up with. You can buy those in bulk and get a good deal, always keep new strings on. The acoustic? I play with the nano-webs, and they're a bit more... But still I definitely replace strings when I record. The 12 string hurts a bit more.

But the bass players among us? We really take it in the shorts... However, and again? Having just put a fresh set of rotosounds on the fretted bass for a project I'm working on? Life is too short to play w/dead oxidized strings... And it F's with your intonation. 

Rotosound baby... (for the fretted) 

And I do play the D'Addario warm mellow flat wound on the fretless. But I know many different strings are good? What's more important is the instrument, then it needs to be set-up with the strings you are playing, and the strings need to be fresh... After that all of the other "stuff." pre-amps, plugs, performance, etc... The list is long, but it starts with? A piece of steel and nickel "vibrating..." It all starts there, so that part is very important. 

Life is too short to play w/dead oxidized strings. Don't clean them, "replace them." 

Yeah, it's stupid when you think about it? It's just raw materials, and a winder? I've seen how they make um. And they can crank them out en-masse? So I guess the rest is just marking, the hotties in the booth at NAM, the steak dinners for the sales reps, etc. I do like the Rotosounds though...

I think it can depend on the factors as mentioned above. I play the Ernie Ball Skinny top, heavy bottoms 10-52's. I play rather hard & we practice twice a week and gig 3-5 times a month. I generally change the strings on my main guitar no more than every 2 weeks. For me, it is to avoid breaking them on stage. I tend to break the low E, & A strings. My other guitarist plays elixer strings (I think they are called) and has to change them because of rust due to the acid from his skin which is weird cause his guitar looks pretty nice. the hardware(especially the bridge) on mine is so rusted it looks like a relic off of the titanic!